La isla en presente perfecto: articulaciones de lo cotidiano en la producción cultural de Cuba posterior a 1974 Por © 2018 Raciel Alonso M.A., University of Florida, 2010 B.A, University of Florida, 2007 Submitted to the graduate degree program in Spanish and Portuguese and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Chair: Santa Arias Verónica Garibotto Luciano Tosta Omaris Z. Zamora Tamara L. Falicov Date Defended: 27 April 2018 ii The dissertation committee for Raciel Alonso certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: La isla en presente perfecto: articulaciones de lo cotidiano en la producción cultural de Cuba posterior a 1974 Santa Arias Date Approved: 4 May 2018 iii Abstract La isla en presente perfecto explores music, poetry, and film in Cuba and its diaspora in order to understand the ways in which everyday practices and public spaces—and their representation in cultural production—shape the values and perceptions of Cubans as they relate to larger issues of national identity, race, class, and sexuality. Specifically, I analyze periods of political, social, and economic transition, when the malleability of collective values and strategies of perception become more transparent as they are challenged by new circumstances. This dissertation project centers around everyday expressions of culture, so often invisible to the critical eye because they can be seen as ordinary or mechanical in nature. However, my research shows that they are, in fact, a very important site of cultural negotiation which is plugged into affective networks at the very core of the processes that shape life and experience in post- revolutionary Cuba. The first chapter tackles the effects of Cuba’s cultural policy during the 70s, after the notorious Gray Years, and during the rise of the Nueva Trova musical movement, which sought to reeducate the Cuban people through a celebration of autochthonous musical traditions that inscribed the government’s socialist project in everyday life. Chapter two documents the effects of the Special Period during the 90s in Cuba’s poetry scene, investigating the experimental poetry of Reina María Rodríguez and Víctor Fowler Calzada, where new strategies for understanding everyday life are mapped in response to the crisis of representation that the Special Period stimulated. Chapter three surveys 21st century Cuban cinema that centers on the viewpoint of children in order to interrogate the manner in which the symbolic figure of the child is utilized to portray a new generation of Cubans no longer afraid of the effects of capitalism and consumerism, signaling Cuba’s insertion into the world market. The last chapter looks at the poetry, music, and film of young Cubans in the diaspora as they attempt to build cultural bridges iv to the island, reconnect with their heritage, and promote the construction of a “digital Cuba” through collaboration in virtual forums, news websites, and social media. Therefore, this research project contributes to critical studies in marginalized popular expressions of culture in Cuba and its diaspora, Affect Studies in the wider Caribbean, and theoretical framings of everyday life in Cultural Studies. As the plasticity of collective values is revealed during periods of transition, critical attention is displaced from the suprastructural political and economic maneuvers of the Cuban government to the influence of affective flows and quotidian practices on the shared perceptions of the Cuban people. v Acknowledgments This dissertation project would not have been possible without the courage of my parents, who emigrated from Cuba in a fishing boat and left behind their families, their histories, and their professions so that one day I would have the opportunity to write these pages. In many ways, this project is a tribute to their initiative and sacrifice. I would be remiss not to recognize the invaluable feedback from my dissertation committee, whose suggestions shaped in my ways the final form of this project and whose encouragement inspired my dedication to completing this important research. I would like to highlight, especially, the contributions of my dissertation committee chair, Dr. Santa Arias, whose guidance and patience throughout the entire research process scaffolded the development of this doctoral thesis and whose passion for the study of culture continues to ignite my own. In addition, I would like to thank my first adviser, Dr. Jill S. Kuhnheim, who had a decisive role in the beginning stages of my project and whose feedback was greatly appreciated. Lastly, I would like to thank all my colleagues, friends, and acquaintances who have contributed to my dissertation via conversations, reference exchanges, and the facilitation of bibliography—you know who you are. vi Table of Contents Introducción ................................................................................................................................... 1 Isla que se repite ...........................................................................................................................7 La cultura de todos los días ........................................................................................................15 Afecto, percepciones y narrativas ..............................................................................................24 Capítulo 1 – Dos voces desde el nuevo mundo: la Nueva Trova cubana ................................ 32 Del amor cortesano a la Nueva Trova ........................................................................................40 Clima cultural y politico de los sesenta y setenta .......................................................................45 Poesía de día y de noche ............................................................................................................49 En la vanguardia de América Latina ..........................................................................................72 Te doy una canción ....................................................................................................................84 A modo de conclusiones ............................................................................................................93 Capítulo 2 – Palabra sobre palabra: escribir poesía en el Periodo Especial .......................... 96 Hacia la primacía de la palabra ..................................................................................................99 Las crisis postsoviéticas ...........................................................................................................104 Un juego de espejos ..................................................................................................................109 Copulación poética y gestación del futuro ...............................................................................125 A modo de conclusiones ..........................................................................................................136 Capítulo 3 – Cosa de niños: el cine cubano a comienzos del siglo XIX .................................139 Una serie de eventos (des)afortunados .....................................................................................143 Cine de niño: orígenes y efectos ..............................................................................................146 Nuevo siglo, vieja batalla .........................................................................................................148 Contexto económico, político y social .....................................................................................154 (Tras)pasando límites ...............................................................................................................157 A modo de conclusiones ..........................................................................................................177 Capítulo 4 – Yo quiero volver: reconciliación y espacios digitales desde la diáspora ......... 180 Hay un son que se oye en La Habana .......................................................................................187 Definir sería limitar ..................................................................................................................199 Dos generaciones se dan la mano .............................................................................................218 D17 y el future de Cuba ...........................................................................................................224 Conclusiones ............................................................................................................................... 226 vii Obras citadas .............................................................................................................................. 235 1 INTRODUCCIÓN Lo que es bueno hoy quizás no lo sea mañana he ahí el valor del momento he ahí el presente perfecto. -Celia Cruz, “Ríe y llora” (2003) La guarachera cubana por excelencia, Celia Cruz, sabía muy bien lo que hacía cuando grabó en los últimos meses de su vida el disco que sería su despedida final al público que la quiso tanto, Regalo del alma (2003). Lanzado póstumamente, el disco cierra con broche de oro una de las carreras artísticas más célebres de la música cubana y se encabeza con la canción cuya primera estrofa cito arriba. “Ríe y llora” es un triunfo de todos los talentos que pusieron a su intérprete